Event Details

• Shelly Timmons
  Medical College of Wisconsin 
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Shelly Timmons
Medical College of Wisconsin
Name and Title(s): Professor of Neurosurgery Shelly Timmons Chair, Department of Neurological Surgery; Co-Director, Neuroscience Institute
Additional biographical information:
Name and title(s):  Shelly D. Timmons, MD, PhD, Prof
Current position(s) and affiliations:
Specific expertise: Neurotrauma
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• David Okonkwo
  University of Pittsburgh 
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David Okonkwo
University of Pittsburgh
Name and Title(s): Professor David Okonkwo
Profession: Physician
Areas of specialty:
Neurotrauma, Spinal surgery, Critical/Intensive care
Additional biographical information:
David Okonkwo, MD, PhD is Professor of Neurological Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh and serves as Director of Neurotrauma at UPMC. He completed his residency in neurological surgery at the University of Virginia, with a neurosurgery fellowship at Auckland Public Hospital, New Zealand. Dr. Okonkwo is Past Chair of the AANS/CNS Section on Neurotrauma and Critical Care.
Dr. Okonkwo leads one of the premier clinical and research programs for traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury in the U.S. and is one of the principal investigators of the TRACK-TBI consortium. His research endeavors involve developing advanced neuroimaging modalities and biomarkers in neurotrauma and performing clinical trials of novel therapeutic interventions serves as Team Neurosurgeon for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He has published more than 400 papers and received numerous awards in his career. 
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• Gregory Hawryluk
  Cleveland Clinic 
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Gregory Hawryluk
Cleveland Clinic
Name and Title(s): Temporary Clinical Professor of Neurosurgery Gregory Hawryluk MD, PhD, FRCSC
Profession: Physician
Areas of specialty:
Neurotrauma
Additional biographical information:
Name and title(s): Dr. Gregory Hawryluk,MD, PhD, FRCSC
Current position(s) and affiliations: Neurosurgeon at Cleveland Clinic and Medical Director of the Brain Trauma Foundation
Greg completed his neurosurgical residency at the University of Toronto.  During this time he also completed a basic science PhD in Neural Repair and Regeneration under the supervision of Dr. Michael Fehlings which examined the mechanism by which neural precursor cells augment recovery from spinal cord injury. 
He leads the development of the Brain Trauma Foundation's head injury guidelines, Co-Directed the development of the SIBICC algorithms and is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards for academic achievements such as the Murray Goldstein Award of the National Neurotrauma Society as well as humanitarian awards such as the University Health Network’s Sopman Humanitarian Award.
Specific expertise: spine and brain trauma
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  Rocco Armonda

  MedStar-Washington Hospital Center & Georgetown University Hospital

  Name and Title(s): Rocco Armonda

  Profession: Physician

  Other Affiliations:

  Washington Hospital Center, Georgetown University Hospital, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda MD

  Areas of specialty:

  General neurosurgery, Neurotrauma, Neurovascular, Skull base, Critical/Intensive care

  Additional biographical information:

  Director Neuroendovascular Neurosurgeon, Professor of Neurosurgery, Georgetown University Neurosurgery, MedStar Washington Hospital Center, Washington DC past 10 years.

  Focused practice cerebrovascular disease, neuro trauma and NeuroCriticalCare mentoring residents  physician assistants, nurse practitioners and fellows in NeuroIR and Neurosurgery.

  Prior 31 years of service in the US Army 1982-2013, retiring as a Colonel, served in the Army Medical Corps at Walter Reed MedCen, Bethesda Naval Hospital and the Walter Reed National Military MEDCEN as well as in Iraq 2003-04 Commander 207th Neurosurgery TM. Prior graduate of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences 1990, and the United States Military Academy 1986.

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  Randall Chesnut

  University of Washington, Harborview Medical Center

  Name and Title(s): Professor Randall Chesnut MD, FCCM FACS FAANS

  Profession: Physician

  Job title: Director of Neurotrau,a

  Other Affiliations:

  Professor, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery Professor, School of Global Health Match Day Physician, Seattle Seawolves Professional MLR Rugby Club

  Areas of specialty:

  Neurotrauma, Spinal surgery, Critical/Intensive care

  Additional biographical information:

  Professor Randall M Chesnut MD FCCM FACS FAANS is a neurosurgeon and intensivist directing the Neurotrauma Service at Harborview Medical Centre at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, USA. He specialises in TBI plus spinal cord and column trauma, particularly multi-modality monitoring and targeted therapy. He co-initiated the BTF TBI Guidelines effort. He was the first authour of the seminal paper relating early hypotension to poor recovery from brain trauma that changed TBI resuscitation. He was lead investigator in the CREVICE TBI management algorithm development and validaton project. He was PI of the BEST TRIP Trial that challenged our current use of ICP-monitoring data in directing TBI care. He is currently PI in a paediatric version of BEST TRIP (BELA TRIPP) in Latin America. He is a co-investigator in BOOST-3. He co-directed the SIBICC efforts that produced TBI management algorithms for monitored patients and the trials that developed the CREVICE protocol for non-monitored patients. Extracurricular interests are rugby, skiing, mountain-biking, and classical woodworking.

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  Geoffrey Manley

  University of California, San Francisco

  Name and Title(s): Prof Dr Geoffrey Manley MD, PhD

  Profession: Physician

  Job title: Professor of Neurosurgery

  Areas of specialty:

  Neurotrauma, Critical/Intensive care

  Additional biographical information:

  Name and title(s): Geoffrey Manley, Prof Dr

  Current position(s) and affiliations: 

  Margaret Liu Endowed Professor in Traumatic Brain Injury

  Weill Institute for Neurosciences

  Professor and Vice Chairman of Neurological Surgery

  Co-Director, Brain and Spinal Injury Center (BASIC)

  University of California, San Francisco

  Chief of Neurosurgery

  Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center

  Specific expertise: Dr. Manley's research interests range from molecular aspects of traumatic brain injury (TBI) to the clinical care of TBI victims.

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  Jayde Nail

  Tufts Medical Center

  Name and Title(s): Jayde Nail MD

  Profession: Physician

  Job title: Director of Neurotrauma

  Other Affiliations:

  Tufts University

  Areas of specialty:

  Neurotrauma, Critical/Intensive care

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  Laura Ngwenya

  University of Cincinnati

  Name and Title(s): Laura Ngwenya MD, PhD

  Profession: Physician

  Areas of specialty:

  Neurotrauma

  Additional biographical information:

  Laura B. Ngwenya (uc.edu)

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  Matthew Pease

  Indiana University

  Name and Title(s): Assistant professor Matthew Pease MD

  Profession: Physician

  Job title: Neurosurgeon

  Other Affiliations:

  Indiana University

  Areas of specialty:

  Neurotrauma

  Additional biographical information:

  Matthew Pease, MD is a neurosurgeon who specializes in care for patients with cancer and trauma. He joined the Department of Neurological Surgery at Indiana University School of Medicine in August 2023.

  Dr. Pease graduated with high distinction in economics from Duke University where he developed models to better understand how the brain is structured to make economic decisions. After graduating, he completed medical school at the University of Southern California and trained in clinical neurosurgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. There, Dr. Pease developed an interest in better understanding how to predict outcomes for trauma patients, communicate expected outcomes to families, and better prevent complications during the course of recovery.

  As a fellowship trained data scientist, he is pushing cancer care forward through developing new artificial intelligence-based tools to help diagnose and treat neurosurgical patients more effectively. Dr. Pease’s work has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals including the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Neurology, Annals of Neurology, Radiology, Neuro-oncology, Epilepsia and Neurosurgery.

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  Emily Sieg

  University of Louisville

  Name and Title(s): Dr. Emily Sieg MD, MS

  Profession: Physician

  Job title: Neurosurgeon

  Areas of specialty:

  Neurotrauma, Critical/Intensive care

  Additional biographical information:

  Emily P. Sieg, M.D., is the director of neurotrauma and  the Vice Chair of Clinica Affairs for UofL Health – Brain & Spine Institute. She received her medical degree from Penn State College of Medicine. Dr. Sieg completed her residency in neurological surgery at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. She did one-year CAST accredited fellowships in Neurocritical Care and in Complex Spine Surgery at Penn State. Her research interests lie primarily in clinical and translational research in the field of neurotrauma and critical care. This includes spinal cord injury, brain trauma with an emphasis on penetrating trauma and peripheral nerve injury.

  Emily Sieg | Neurosurgery | Louisville KY | UofL Health

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  Douglas Terry

  Vanderbilt University Medical Center

  Name and Title(s): Dr. Douglas Terry PhD

  Profession: Neuropsychologist

  Job title: Assistant Professor

  Areas of specialty:

  Neurotrauma, Rehabilitation, Research Scientist

  Additional biographical information:

  Douglas Terry is a board-certified clinical neuropsychologist and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurological Surgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He is the Co-Director of the Vanderbilt Sports Concussion Center and the Director of the Center for Cognitive Neurosurgical Studies. He is also the Senior Director of Research for the National Football League (NFL). He is the consulting neuropsychologist for the Nashville Predators, Tennessee Titans, and Nashville SC. He receives research funding from Amgen Inc., Football Research Inc., Blink TBI, and in part through the Civil Military Innovation Institute / Department of Defense.

  He completed his PhD at the University of Georgia, his predoctoral internship UCLA, and his fellowship at Harvard Medical School hospitals. His research focuses on the spectrum of concussion, from diagnostic tools to potential long-term effects. He has co-authored over 130 publications and lectured internationally on this topic.

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  Sharon Webb

  Trident Medical Center

  Name and Title(s): Sharon Webb MD

  Profession: Physician

  Job title: Neuroendovascular surgeon

  Areas of specialty:

  Neurotrauma, Neurovascular, Critical/Intensive care

  Additional biographical information:

  Dr. Webb is a dual trained cerebrovascular/endovascular neurosurgeon who is CAST certified in endovascular treatments. She is also fellowship trained in neurotrauma and critical care and is CAST certified in neurocritical care. She is able to provide specialized services for a wide range of spine, brain and cerebrovascular conditions.

  Sharon Webb MD, Neuroendovascular Surgery | Trident Health System

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  Nathan Zwagerman

  Medical College Of Wisconsin

  Name and Title(s): Dr. Nathan Zwagerman MD, FAANS

  Profession: Physician

  Job title: Neurosurgery Residency Program Director

  Areas of specialty:

  Neurotrauma, Skull base, Neuro-oncology

  Additional biographical information:

  Nathan T. Zwagerman, MD, joined the faculty at the Medical College of Wisconsin in 2017 after completing his residency and fellowship training at the university of Pittsburgh. He completed his undergraduate studies at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI while majoring in Psychology. He completed his medical training at Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, MI. He was born and raised on a family farm in West Michigan.

  Dr. Zwagerman completed a two year fellowship in endoscopic endonasal pituitary and endoscopic and open skull base surgery. His research has been focused on evaluating patient outcomes after endoscopic skull base surgery and developing improved techniques to repair injured peripheral nerves.

  Dr. Zwagerman received the Student's Golden Heart Award as a 4th year medical student as voted on by his peers for his work in research and his volunteer activity. In 2016, He was awarded the American Association of Neurological Surgeons Synthes Skull base award for his work with Dr. Paul Gardner for a randomized controlled trial of lumbar drain placement after endoscopic skull base surgery. More recently, in 2017 he was awarded the American Association of Neurological Surgeons first place poster for peripheral nerve.

  Education and Training

  Doctor of Medicine - Wayne State University School of Medicine - Detroit, MI (2010)
  Fellowship in Endoscopic and Open Cranial Base Surgery - University of Pittsburgh Medical Center - Pittsburgh, PA (2014-2016)
  Residency in Neurological Surgery - University of Pittsburgh Medical Center - Pittsburgh, PA (2011-2017)

  Nathan Zwagerman, MD, FAANS | Medical College of Wisconsin (mcw.edu)

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  Aditya Vedantam

  Medical College of Wisconsin

  Name and Title(s): Aditya Vedantam MD

  Profession: Physician

  Job title: Associate Professor

  Areas of specialty:

  Spinal surgery

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  Shekar Kurpad

  Medical College of Wisconsin

  Name and Title(s): Shekar Kurpad MD, PhD

  Profession: Physician

  Job title: Professor of Neurosurgery

  Other Affiliations:

  Founding Director of the Wisconsin Institute of NeuroScience (WINS) which is a partnership of Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin, Children’s Wisconsin and the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center; Senior Associate Dean, Neuroscience at the Medical College of WI; Chairperson of KF Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Steering Committee for AO Spine

  Areas of specialty:

  General neurosurgery

  Additional biographical information:

  Dr. Shekar Kurpad is a Professor of Neurosurgery, Senior Associate Dean of Neuroscience, and the Founding Director of the Wisconsin Institute of NeuroScience (WINS), a partnership between the Medical College of Wisconsin, Froedtert Hospital, Children’s Wisconsin, and the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center. He previously served as the Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery which he successfully led for over 10 years. Dr. Kurpad’s clinical practice focuses on the surgical treatment of patients with degenerative and traumatic conditions of the spine and spinal cord, as well as benign and malignant tumors of the spinal column and spinal cord. His laboratory focuses on regenerative treatment for patients with spinal cord injury and the development of novel MRI-based imaging biomarkers for spinal cord injury, as well as cervical spondylotic myelopathy.

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  Kunal Gupta

  Medical College of Wisconsin

  Name and Title(s): Dr Kunal Gupta MD PhD

  Profession: Physician

  Job title: Assistant Professor of Neurological Surgery

  Areas of specialty:

  Functional neurosurgery

  Additional biographical information:

  Dr. Kunal Gupta is a functional neurosurgeon, specializing in deep brain stimulation (DBS) for movement disorders, stereoelectroencephalography (SEEG) and the open and minimally invasive treatment of epilepsy. 

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  John Nerva

  Medical College of Wisconsin

  Name and Title(s): John Nerva

  Profession: Physician

  Areas of specialty:

  Neurovascular

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  Sean Lew

  Medical College of Wisconsin

  Name and Title(s): Sean Lew

  Profession: Physician

  Job title: Neurosurgeon

  Areas of specialty:

  Pediatric neurosurgery

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  Patricia B. Raksin

  John H Stroger Jr Hospital of Cook County

  Name and Title(s): Patricia B. Raksin MD

  Profession: Physician

  Areas of specialty:

  Neurotrauma, Critical/Intensive care

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  Michael McCrea

  Medical College of Wisconsin

  Name and Title(s): Michael McCrea PhD

  Profession: Scientist

  Job title: Professor of Neurosurgery

  Areas of specialty:

  Neurotrauma

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  Linda Littlejohns

  Self Employed

  Name and Title(s): Linda Littlejohns MSN RN FAAN

  Profession: Nurse

  Job title: Neuro Nurse Consultant

  Areas of specialty:

  Neurotrauma, Neurovascular, Critical/Intensive care, Nursing

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  Hirad Hedayat

  Medical College of Wisconsin

  Name and Title(s): Hirad Hedayat

  Profession: Physician

  Job title: Neurosurgeon

  Areas of specialty:

  General neurosurgery, Neurotrauma, Neurovascular, Skull base, Spinal surgery, Neuro-oncology, Pediatric neurosurgery, Critical/Intensive care

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The Global Neuro Course—Neurotrauma and Neurocritical Care has been developed for neurosurgical residents, advanced practice providers (APPs), neurosurgeons, trauma surgeons and other physicians, and neurocritical care and neuroscience nurses. 

The course aims to provide additional education on the complex management issues surrounding traumatic injuries, including traumatic brain injury, spinal cord and spinal column injury, blunt vascular injury, and peripheral nerve injury.

Hands-on sessions are provided for neurosurgery residents to stimulate interest in surgical and procedural techniques for managing the diverse injuries neurosurgeons face in training and in practice.  Residents will be exposed to a variety of perspectives from neurotrauma leaders around the country on the use of multimodality neuromonitoring and complex management issues to augment their experiences in their home training programs.  They will also be exposed to current thoughts on the future of the specialty.

The Saturday morning, Saturday evening, and Sunday morning sessions will be open to practicing physicians,
APPs, and nurses and both CME and CEU credits will be offered. Physician Assistants may claim Category I
AMA CME credits. Nurse practitioners may claim CEU credits.

The hands-on surgical laboratory session will be for residents and APPs only.

There will be a separate critical care nursing track in which nurses and APPs will be able to interact directly
with an internationally acclaimed nurse educator. The Anatomage virtual learning system will be utilized for
this session (more information @ https://anatomage.com)

Didactic sections will be punctuated with audience response system (ARS) questions and answers in the
style of popular game shows. This will help the faculty gauge the level of knowledge to address areas of need
and provide a bit of interactive fun for each session.

Transportation to and from organized course activities will be provided for non-local faculty and residents.
Non-local residents are responsible for their own transportation on Saturday night. All local attendees are
responsible for their own transportation to all events.